Against The Monarchy
by abbykch
Summary: Arthur Kirkland,born with the birthmark of the Queen of Spades, lived the life of an abandoned 18 year old orphaned peasant, had realised his fate was inevitable. Worse, his brother turned out to be the next Joker. After years of taking care of his 10 year old brother all by himself, they crushed under the impressions of the monarchy. TW:Abuse/TW:Neglect/
1. Chapter 1

_"Unhand my brother at once!" Arthur's yell echoed in their tiny farmhouse. None of the guards in armour obliged. "Leave him alone! He's got nothing to do with this, I do!" he tried fighting back, but being held down by the other guards didn't give much of an effect. Poor Peter, unconscious and silent. "Please, put him down, we've only got each other, don't bring him away" Arthur sobbed. _

_It was only then, the guard who held Peter on his shoulders, pulled up Peter's shirt and revealed an engraved mark of the Spades with a dark initial, 'J'. He was doomed._

"Jerk! Stop crying!" Arthur felt a hand slapped his face , followed by a splash of water. "What the shite are you doing, Peter?! Give me pneumonia and die?!" Arthur kicked his legs as an instinct, and grabbed his rag on the dresser next to his bed. " 'ow else am I suppose to wake you up!? You've been screaming No No No for the past hour!"Peter yelled back.

Arthur was startled, hesitating to ask what else did he screamed in his deep slumber. "Fine, I'm sorry, I'll fix tea , you go to Berwald and Tino's house, hurry on!" he shoved Peter to the door, pretending none of the conversation had ever happen. "But Berwald and Tino are away to Hearts! Come on, jerkface, I've lived with you for years, raised by you! You're just kicking me out because you ain't wanting to talk about some scary nightmare, are ya?" Peter snickered.

"No, Peter, then go, play or do something kids your age do! I didn't have a nightmare, none at all, you're the nightmare I'm having right now!" Arthur scoffed, pulling and pinching his brother's ears bright red. "Ow, that hurt you jerk!" Peter exclaimed loudly, wincing. "Good, you're supposed to feel it" Arthur let go of Peter's ears and placed his hands on his hips.

"Now go off, go play with some mates of yours down the lane!" Arthur shoved Peter out of his bedroom, much to his brother's refusal to leave the room.

Such a tiny house they lived in. More of a shack, except with three rooms. A bedroom for Arthur, a bedroom for Peter, and a room for where Arthur did his work and chores. It was they could afford. What with being orphans, their brothers off to another kingdom who then denied being a relative of theirs, and the authorities of the kingdom taking away their inheritance. Selfish bastards.

It could be that they never cared for Arthur, or the fact that he was born with the mark of the Spades. Engraved with a faint Q in a spade-shaped birthmark, his future was determined to give disasters and grieve to his family if he was found out and baptised under the name of the royal family. If his relatives decided to cut ties with him, it wouldn't affect them. But oh, dear, poor Peter. Arthur had the choice to abandon Peter, give him to Berwald and Tino, but he couldn't.

Peter was fond of Berwald and Tino, and so were they. He could cut ties with Peter, but then again, he couldn't. He was not of age yet, and there was stupid law saying that adoption is illegal, and the child must be raised by a relative ,regardless of the relative's age. Be it 5 years old or even 3.

He heard loud knocks on the door. Who could it be , Berwald and Tino? No, Hearts is too far , they wouldn't be back unless they left 3 weeks ago. "Arthur, there's guards! They're looking for you" he heard Peter yell. Oh no, his heart dropped. Slowly, he walked to the tiny living room, greeted by the sight of five guards in the royal armour.

"Arthur, wha-!" Peter felt a punch to his stomach, followed by a blackout that left him unconscious. Arthur dropped whatever he had in his hands and ran for Peter. "Oi! What do you think you're doing?!" he knelt down to reach for his younger brother, however, his hand was stepped on by the foot of a guard, far taller than him.

"Peasant" the guard muttered in a harsh tone, and spat on the poor Arthur's hair.

It was at that time, Arthur's mark glowed. As well as Peter's. Arthur was senseless, didn't realise what was going on around him. All he had in mind was his younger brother's unconscious body, and that his brother had the mark of the Jack of Spades.

He felt a kick down his spine, a step on his head and nausea.

It didn't matter though. With the mark of Spades, it came with the abilities equivalent to witchcraft. All that runs through his mind was how inevitable their fate was. Worse, but of them had the mark of Spades. That could also be the reason, why their brothers abandoned them, why their parents had passed away in joy and delight.

Oh how cruel the world was, giving sorrow and making a pair of orphaned and abandoned brothers to be the slave of the royalties of Spades. How cruel it was, to be destined to be a part of the disgusting monarchy from birth.

"Pe-ter" he mumbled his brother's name. How have he not noticed it? If he had earlier, he could've run off to Diamonds with Peter. Could it be that it was because Peter's abilities had not matured, not making it obvious or giving a slight hint?

He crawled near Peter, coughing out the red blood from his mouth due to the several blows. Coughing as he went, he flipped a finger and cursed one of the guards, with a disgusted expression. The guards, angered by his act of defiance to the throne's orders, in return, kicked him one more time in the stomach and kicked his head , knocking him out unconscious.

_" Why the hell do we have peasants for a Queen and a Joker?! This country's monarchy is a fucking joke"_

_"Oi, you'll drop the Queen if you carry him like that, you'll get yelled at by the King later if he finds out"_

_"I don't care if I drop him, he's a Queen! Born with magic that'll heal him, who cares?"_

_"Quiet, mate! Someone will hear and cause a ruckus"_

_"Cause a ruckus They're scared of us! They wouldn't dare"_

_"Who knows,chap?"_


	2. Chapter 2

Peter woke up, greeted by the sight of blinding light. "What?!" he blocked the light with his arm and took several seconds to adjust his eyes to the sunlight. "Why was that so bright?" he patted his shirt, and scanned the room he was in. Blue walls, with the symbol of Spades running down the wallpaper. The ceiling was pearl white, or marble and had a giant functioning clock ticking. _Magic, it must be magic, how else is it ticking when it's not supported by a mechanism? _,Peter thought. He had learnt the basics of mechanism from his brother, when he was bored from playing with his neighbours.

The windows were barred. _Shit, I can't escape, _Peter noticed. He ran his fingers through the strands of his hair and found them soft and smooth. _What,_ Peter whispered. He had a second look at his shirt and found a clean and silky nightgown instead of his dirt-stained shirt.

Just then, knocks were heard. " Pardon me, Mr. Kirkland, Peter's your name right? I know you're awake, don't bother fooling me that you're asleep by being quiet. _I know"_ a voice spoke. It had an accent, a weird accent where his r's and l's sound alike. "I'll be entering with your Officials' Clothes"

The doors burst opened, and Peter searched for hiding. A man stepped into his room. Dressed in a traditional-like robe that reached the floor and sleeves that were longer than his arms, the man had russet eyes and hair that went from jet back to brown as it got longer.

"There's no use for hiding, I know wherever you are" the man motioned for the guards that escorted him to exit out of the room. "I am Wang Yao, the Jack of Spades, I assume that you are Peter Kirkland, of course you are" Yao said.

"What do you want from me? Where's this place? Where's my brother!?" Peter yelled. He was sure that he saw Arthur before passing out. And a strange ,bright light that blinded him for several seconds. Yao tossed the uniform at Peter, "Change into these , I'll tell you everything later" the man said, ending his sentence with "-aru"

It had been a long time since Peter clothed himself in clean apparels. It felt weird, to have the scent of lavenders clinging onto you. The button up shirt that was pure white , matched with the shiny jet black shoes Yao gave him too.

He was ready. "May I go out?" Peter yelled from inside the room. Yao knocked the door four times, with intervals lasting a second each. "Yes, I'll bring you to the garden, we'll talk there with the Ace" Yao responded. Peter shook his head, "So much for first impressions"

OoOoO

The garden was wide. Extremely wide. If Peter were to compare how large it was, it'd be a million times larger than the tiny yard he had back at home. It was beautiful too. The grass were in the colour of the most beautiful green, flowers that sprouted from the grounds , arranged and planted neatly, the flowers would look like the colour wheel from far away and far above. There was a magnificent looking fountain in the centre of it. Benches of marble surrounded it.

After walking down the lane which the Monarchy had built centuries ago, he was greeted by the sight of a man, taller than Yao. The man took notice of their presence, and nodded at them. "Oh, you're here already? Come, sit , your name is Peter Kirkland, is it not? Yao, do you mind leaving us alone for a second?" he smiled.

"No, I'll leave now, Ace" Yao took his leave and left the two alone. Peter took a glance at Matthew while Matthew did the same. He reached out his hand for a shake and Peter, being taught manners by Arthur, shook it.

"My name is Matthew Williams. I am the Ace of Spades. You probably have seen my brother, Alfred F Jones, the King of Spades. I don't really like to go out of the palace compound due to my health, so please don't mistake me for Alfred, call me Matthew" Matthew explained. "Well, you're wondering what you're doing here, aren't you? It's kind of hard to explain but we have the time until dinner. It's just morning, after all

"I'll explain to you the ranks first. The highest in the Monarchy is the Ace. Then the King, comes the Queen, right after that, the Jack , remember Yao? Then the Joker. My brother is the King, yours is the Queen. So what are you doing here?

"You see that mark on your back? That's the mark of Spades. In there, you have a faded 'JR'. Each member of the Monarchy has the mark of the Spades, and their ranks and roles are determined n the initials. You, Peter Kirkland, is the Joker of Spades. That's why you were brought here, along with your brother"

"I didn't want to come, the guards dragged us!" Peter snapped. "I'm sorry for that, but we needed our Queen badly, your brother was aware of it, but he didn't tell you about the marks, did he? Well, the highest of the Monarchy, the Ace, King, Queen and Jack, were naturally born with gifts, magic, as you say. Have you seen your brother do wondrous miracles? Something that no normal person could do? The Queen has more power and is vital to a government. Without a Queen, a kingdom is nothing. Might as well consider that kingdom a fallen nation. It's crucial"

"What about me? Isn't the Joker, the 5th highest?" Peter pouted. He wasn't jealous of his brother's gift, he admired it. He was just jealous that he didn't have a gift. Matthew took a deep breath, "I was just getting to it. Jokers, they aren't born with the mark. The mark will only appear once the Queen has been found. A Queen without a Joker is a weak Queen, rendered useless and daft

"An Ace, does not require someone to share their burden. A King shares his burden with the Jack, and the Queen with the Joker. Simply speaking, the Jack helps the King, not the Queen, the Joker helps the Queen , not the King. An Ace has the most power among everybody in the Monarchy. They too, have great control over it. The Jack is chosen by the King, the Joker ,chosen by the Queen"

"But why me? Arthur, told me he wouldn't ,ever, let me go to the palace" Peter waved his hands. Matthew looked at him, with a pleasant smile. "For a kid your age, you're pretty able to comprehend complicated topics, then again, I had already expected that of the Queen. Well, they don't technically choose you like, 'hey you yeah you you're my assistant now lick my shoes', it depends on the roles.

"The Jack is chosen through diplomatic matters, the Joker, is chosen by the relation with the Queen. You, being the closest and the only person Arthur has at the moment, was obviously the first choice. Your mark, appeared at the very moment Arthur was found" Matthew gave Peter a warm smile.

Peter didn't smile back. There was something, that bothered him greatly. But he kept it deep within. _No, not this person. He's too kind, too mild, too sincere... I'll...I'll just say it when the time comes_


End file.
